US to donate 10k Mpox vaccine shots to Africa

The US will send 10,000 mpox vaccines made by Bavarian Nordic to Africa, where a new strain of the virus spread outside its epicenter in the DRC to neighboring countries and beyond, Reuters reported.

The vaccines will be sent next week marking a breakthrough in a vaccine regulatory labyrinth due to World Health Organization regulatory requirements.
In 2022, after a different mpox strain spread outside Africa, smallpox shots were repurposed by governments within weeks, approved by regulators and used in roughly 70 high-and middle- income countries outside Africa to protect those most at risk.

Shares of Danish biotech Bavarian Nordic surged 12% on Thursday after the company reported strong earnings and a large order of its mpox vaccine, extending its gains this year as nations mobilize to combat an escalating outbreak of the disease in Africa.

The new variant has increased the need for vaccines in the Democratic Republic of Congo and elsewhere. At the time of writing, the country still does not have any doses of an mpox vaccine. The country’s health minister said on Monday (August 19) that Japan and the US had pledged to donate vaccines before the end of the month.